God’s Sure-Fire Strategy for Growing Wealth
Being faithful with the resources the Lord has entrusted to us is important.
The Lord gives seed to the sower, and bread for food (2 Corinthians 9:10).
As the recipients of the seed and bread, we must make choices when to sow the seed, when to eat the bread, and when to store up into barns. This concept of stewardship—which encompasses having right attitudes about money, setting priorities, and getting out of debt—can be a bit overwhelming. However, being faithful with money is actually what Jesus called the least of things!
Stewardship
The word “stewardship” sometimes causes a sense of dread, kind of like when some people hear the word “work!” However, stewardship is not a 4-letter word! In reality, it’s a biblical principle that helps us to increase.
Being a good steward does not mean walking around with a lack mentality. We don’t look at every financial decision and say, “I can’t do that with my money. I can’t afford it because I’m trying to be a good steward!” Stewardship doesn’t mean always buying the scratchy toilet paper and reusing your dental floss. Stewardship isn’t using your empty whipped cream containers as your new tupperware set or turning your old pair of jeans into a stylish new handbag!
In truth, biblical stewardship is simply making financial decisions based on the leading of the Holy Spirit. Remember, Matthew 6:24 tells us that we can’t serve two masters, that we cannot serve both God and money. If our decisions are made based on whether we can “afford” to do something or not, we are being led by our finances, not by God.
For example, God says, “Go on a mission trip to Indonesia,” and you reply, “God, I can’t do that: I don’t have the money! My boss won’t give me two weeks off to travel to the other side of the world for a mission trip. I’ll get fired if I go! Then how will I pay my bills?” In this scenario, who is the master: God or money?
For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. Matthew 25:29
When you look at the life of a believer who is walking in godly prosperity, you will see a person who is a good steward of what they have been given.
Yes, God is the God of abundance, of supernatural provision, the God of more than enough: El Shaddai not “El Cheapo!” God has unlimited resources for us. Yet, He is also a God of stewardship, and He doesn’t like waste. Let’s take a look at a few examples of God’s perspective of this principle:
Mark 8:19—After Jesus fed the 4,000 and 5,000, they collected up all the fragments. Even though there was an overwhelmingly abundant supernatural provision, there was no waste either.
2 Kings 6:4-7—When a borrowed axe broke, and the iron head fell into the river, Elisha tossed in a stick, and the axe head floated to the top so what was borrowed could be returned.
Matthew 25:14-29—The unjust steward took the money he had been given and buried it, rather than investing it. God wants us to use what we have been given wisely, not hide it in the ground in fear.
2 Kings 4:1-7—A widow woman had a tiny jar of oil, but great financial need. The oil kept flowing until all the jars were full, and then it stopped. Not one drop of oil was wasted on the ground.
Grace to be a Good Steward
Now, I’m not highlighting this principle of stewardship to bring condemnation. I want to encourage you that if you have not been the best steward of the resources you have been given, you can start today. Even though I’ll be sharing some financial strategies and wisdom with you, rely on the grace of God above any strategy! Follow His direction and He will enable you to use wisdom in your finances and any other resources He has given you.
I want to remind you of a verse we examined previously, but in yet another version. In the Amplified Bible, Classic Edition, Philippians 2:13 says, “[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.”
You can do all of these things, not in your own strength, but through Christ who strengthens you (Philippians 4:13).
God’s grace is all you need to hear His voice, follow His wisdom, and begin to prosper His way!
The Way We Use Money
Financial prosperity has as much or more to do with the way we use money than with the way we make it. No matter how much (or little) money we make, learning to properly manage it is vital to experiencing prosperity.
It amazes me how many people think financial freedom is all about making more money. Making money is important—we’ve already discussed that—but how you manage money once it’s in your hand is more important.
I know many people who have good jobs, make a good income, but do not manage what they have and struggle through day-to-day life. They always worry about how they’re going to pay their bills. Their family spends little quality time together (because Mom and Dad are always trying to earn more money), and they complain about not having extra to give. But I know others who make a fraction of that income, yet manage money well, and always seem to get ahead. You see, what we make is not as important as what we do with what we make. Even if someone makes $200,000 per year, spending $201,000 per year will ensure they never experience prosperity.
If we continue reading in Matthew about Jesus’ parable of the talents, we’ll see this principle of stewardship at work:
After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, “Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.” His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” He also who had received two talents came and said, “Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.” His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” Then he who had received the one talent came and said, “Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.” But his lord answered and said to him, “You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.” Matthew 25:19-28
Notice how the servant with five talents and the servant with two talents received the same reward, even though they brought their master different amounts. The important thing wasn’t how many talents each had, but what they had done with what they had.
Just like the men in this parable, we may not be responsible for what we’re given in life, but we are responsible for what we do with what we’re given. After my wife and I got married, we decided that no matter how much money we made, we wouldn’t go into consumer debt. Even though my first position as a youth pastor came with a very small income, we decided not to use credit cards and spend money we didn’t have.
I remember going into the supermarket early in our marriage and thinking, I’ve only got enough money to buy coffee or cereal. Would I rather be hungry and not tired, or tired and not hungry? It was a tough decision, and it wasn’t the only tough decision we had to make. But because Carlie and I learned to manage our finances and were diligent to live within our means, the little we started with began to grow. Soon we could walk into the supermarket and buy both cereal and coffee.
Now, at the time, no one would have looked at Carlie and me and said, “Wow, look at them prosper!” But we were prospering. You see, prosperity is a process; it doesn’t happen overnight.
Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous. Genesis 26:12-13
Prosperity starts with right attitudes about money; it builds on the principles of stewardship in God’s Word and culminates with the ability to give. Now when Carlie and I walk into a supermarket, we can buy someone else’s cereal and coffee! Why? Because we learned that true, biblical prosperity is not about how much you have, it’s about how much you can give.
Biblical Prosperity
We often get this topic of biblical prosperity backwards—especially in the West. When I wholesaled cars back in England, I used to visit a place regularly without getting much attention. Then one week, I drove up in a convertible I was selling. It was a real nice Lotus Elise. The paint finish on that car was perfect, and the engine purred. It was a beautiful car. As I was getting out, the owner of the place saw me, jumped up, and opened the door for me. I thought, I’ve been here every week for months, and no one has ever treated me like I was somebody special—until now.
This happens all the time. As human beings, we have the tendency to look at outward appearances (1 Samuel 16:7). We look at what someone has, where they live, how they’re dressed, or what they drive and make judgments about them personally. But according to Jesus, biblical prosperity has nothing to do with our possessions.
And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” Luke 12:15
Most of us in the developed Western world have more than enough stuff. Some of us have so much stuff we pay other people to take care of it. We’re very spoiled here. I say spoiled instead of blessed because of what we do with our abundance. The majority of the world lives in houses the size of some of our garages. They count themselves blessed to have food on the table and two chairs to sit upon, because now they have something to share with others.
In Genesis, God told Abraham, “I will bless you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). God didn’t bless Abraham just so he could bless others, but because he was blessed, Abraham did bless those around him. The same is true of us.
Let me explain. If the only reason God blesses us financially is so that we can be a blessing, that would be like me giving my oldest son a new bike for Christmas so he could give it away. He would get excited, grab that bike, and run toward the door until I said, “Hang on, son. That’s not really for you. I’m only giving that to you so you can give it to your younger brother.” It’s ridiculous, but that’s what a lot of Christians believe.
The truth is, giving is a natural byproduct of God’s blessing in our life. God doesn’t save us just so we can offer salvation to others; He saves us because He loves us. God doesn’t heal us just so we can be a testimony of His power; He heals us because He loves us. Do we tell others about our experiences with salvation and healing? Sure, we do, but that sharing is a byproduct; it comes from a natural overflow of thankfulness. Prosperity is the same. God blesses us because He loves us, and that blessing should produce the natural overflow of giving. But if we don’t manage our money properly, we will have nothing to give.
Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Ephesians 4:28
Live to Give
I was on an airplane once, flying without Carlie and the kids, when I noticed a man across the aisle from me. During our long flight, his hands were full of two little ones crying out in hunger. I saw him pull out the in-flight menu, glance at the high prices, and turn to his kids and say, “We’ll just have to wait till we get to the airport.” Like all kids, they weren’t satisfied with that.
“I’m hungry, Daddy. I’m hungry,” they kept saying.
I felt the Lord nudge me to buy them lunch. It didn’t make a lot of sense. The man looked like he had the money to take care of lunch; he just didn’t want to spend it on an overpriced airplane sandwich (not that I blame him). But I wanted to obey the Lord, so I introduced myself and asked if I could buy him and his family lunch.
“Oh, no. That’s not necessary,” he said.
“I really want to,” I replied. “I don’t have my kids with me today, and it would make me happy to buy them lunch.”
“Well, if you insist,” he said.
So, I bought them lunch. When we landed, I noticed his arms overflowing with baggage and babies, so I helped him again and carried his bag. Soon we were talking. He found out I worked at a Bible school, and all the way through the airport and while we waited at the baggage claim, we talked. He asked all kinds of questions about the Lord and the Bible. I got to sow the seeds of the Gospel in his heart.
True Riches
Remember the old saying, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”? It’s true. Because I was generous with that man, he opened the door of his heart to the love of God.
People are important to God. We are His greatest commodity.
He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? Luke 16:10-11
In these verses, Jesus says that our attitude toward money reflects our heart’s attitude toward the true riches of God—people. These verses in Luke fall at the end of one of Jesus’ parables about financial stewardship (Luke 16:1-13). Throughout the parable, He compares the world’s shrewd use of money with the believer’s unwise use. In verse 9, He says, “Use worldly wealth to gain friends” (NIV). Why would He say that? That’s what the heathen do!
That was Jesus’ point. Heathens are shrewd with their money; they use it to promote their own interests and welfare. But often, as Christians, we misuse finances and ignore their use in promoting God’s interest and the welfare of others. We need to learn how to be “faithful with the least,” stewarding our money with godly principals so we have enough to give, and God can establish His covenant in the earth (2 Corinthians 9:8, Deuteronomy 8:18).
Although finances are “the least of things,” they are important. The proper use of our finances helps God to establish His covenant. And when God prospers us, the Scripture says there is “no sorrow with it” (Proverbs 10:22). Prospering God’s way doesn’t require huge sacrifices. There’s no need to sacrifice family time, marriage, or health. All we need to do is listen to His voice and obey.
If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land. Isaiah 1:19
